MONEY PUZZLE
Cops question source of wealth as two of four held in anti-drug operation face extradition
Published:Thursday | July 21, 2022 | 12:07 AMKimone Francis/Senior Staff Reporter
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Financial investigators are beginning to untangle assets linked to the four men who were taken into custody during simultaneous anti-narcotics law enforcement operations in the Corporate Area and St James on Wednesday. The predawn raids carried...
Financial investigators are beginning to untangle assets linked to the four men who were taken into custody during simultaneous anti-narcotics law enforcement operations in the Corporate Area and St James on Wednesday.
The predawn raids carried out at five locations yielded several high-end luxury vehicles, laptops, tablets, cellphones and quantities of cash.
Sums of cash amounting to US$40,723, CDN$29,190, and J$530,750 were seized during the Corporate Area operations. A licensed Glock firearm with 132 live rounds, 19 cell phones, 28 SIM cards and several vehicles were also seized.
The latter included two Mercedes-Benz vehicles seized at The Avery, a gated apartment complex on Charlemont Avenue in St Andrew, that were registered in the name of a woman, raising the eyebrows of law enforcement insiders who have question marks about her ability to afford the vehicles.
Two other cars – a Lexus and an Infiniti – were seized during a secondary operation in Patrick City, St Andrew.
Detectives in Montego Bay, meanwhile, seized US$6,785, as well as 11 cellphones and a BMW motor car.
One of the raids was said to be carried out at Tara Estate, an upscale gated community located in the quiet Reading area.
The operations were conducted jointly by the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s Narcotics Division, the Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency (MOCA), the Counter-Terrorism and Organized Crime Investigations Branch, the Financial Investigations Division (FID), the Jamaica Fugitive Apprehension Team, the Jamaica Defence Force, US Drug Enforcement Administration, and US Marshals Service in search of five men who are believed to be major players in transnational narco-trafficking.
Four were arrested, two of whom are wanted by the United States for extradition in connection with transnational drug-trafficking offences.
The FID offered no comment when contacted on Wednesday, but a source at the agency told The Gleaner that it was standard procedure to conduct criminal investigations into cases involving suspected criminal properties.
The names of the men are being withheld pending charges which are expected to be laid today, a law enforcement source told The Gleaner late Wednesday.
One of the suspects – whose ages range from 38 to 60 – is a former cop, officials confirmed.
“They’re living quite lavishly, but when you talk to them, they can’t explain how they came to own the houses they have, how they own cars of those nature and the assets they have. No one could reasonably assume that these men acquired them legitimately,” the source said.
“They weren’t born into wealth. The question is: how did they get there? They’re not anybody you would be shocked upon hearing their names. They’re not any name-brand VIP,” the source added.
The extradition requests, which The Gleaner has learnt have already been signed, are the first drug-related requests since Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke in 2010.
The extradition of the former Tivoli Gardens strongman to the North American country triggered a deadly confrontation across the capital city between the security forces and criminals loyal to Coke.
Then Prime Minister Bruce Golding, who had opposed the extradition of the drug lord, citing constitutional breaches by the US in acquiring evidence, resigned following the gun battle which claimed the lives of at least 70 people.
On Wednesday, Justice Minister Delroy Chuck told The Gleaner that “once the material is available for extradition and is in order, the people are extradited.
“We have a mutual agreement with a number of countries for extradition. Once everything is in order, then the Ministry of Justice has no difficulty for the extradition to proceed and everything is proceeding quite smoothly,” he said.
“Today’s (yesterday’s) operation is the latest demonstration of the immense value of our joint approach to law enforcement,” said Major Basil Jarrett, director of communications at MOCA, “and the significant success that we can achieve when we pool our respective strengths, assets, resources and expertise.”